Yoga Pants, Here I Come!

So, we are down to 22 days left until my adventure to China!  My passport should be coming in the mail by Monday or Tuesday.  Then, I will apply for my Visa.  I will be applying for a tourist Visa, and once I am in China, I will apply for a working Visa.  Luckily, the company I will be teaching with is helping me in the entire process.  Like I said previously, I have never traveled outside of the country, so every aspect of this is completely new to me. 
All of our stuff is moved and stored away.  I planned on buying the major things I need for China while visiting my sister in Valdosta.  (Mom and Dad live in a town that you can just about blink and be out of, and every town within a two-hour radius is exactly the same.)  So, for the past few days, I have been indulging in some guilty-free shopping.  I am 27 and haven’t ever even owned rolling luggage! 

I also had to buy about two weeks worth of yoga pants for work.  Yes, YOGA pants!  I am so excited that my heels and ironed dress pants are out the door and yoga pants are in the closet!  I actually get to be comfortable while crawling around on the floor with my little ones.  I am ready to enjoy teaching again.  Don’t get me wrong; I did love my previous school.  However, the grade level and subjects I was teaching brought extreme pressure focusing entirely on test scores.  From the first day of school, our focus was always on…how are these kids going to perform…and what do I have to do to ensure they are going to not only pass…but EXCEED!  For example, last year, 100% of my students passed the state test (and every other teacher within the school always performs this way also)…did we sit back and celebrate…nope not really…it was more along the lines of…okay, now what do we do to make sure the scores stay the same for next year. 

With Romp N’ Roll, I will be teaching babies – six years old various classes that range from art, music, P.E., and English.  Of course, I will be held accountable for my performance as a teacher, but the focus won’t be solely on test scores and my whole year won’t be a constant worry of how the kids are going to perform on the state test.  After five years, I began to feel as if I was simply teaching my kids the test and how to test.  I did make learning fun and I enjoyed the classroom, but the environment of the entire school was all about our scores.  I knew I was at the breaking point when last year’s “state test pep rally” had no music or motivation involved…but simply a lecture on how to test properly and consequences for goofing off during the test.  As I said before, I’M READY TO ENJOY TEACHING AGAIN!     

On a different note, below are some fun pics from a little family trip to the boardwalk in Valdosta...with my NEW SLR CAMERA!!! 





And below are some of Dad and Trey's phenominal modeling skills!